The New Jersey native will be the youngest American track athlete to compete in an Olympics since 1972

EUGENE, Ore.---After arriving in town last week feeling overcome by pressure, 16-year-old Sydney McLaughlin almost didn’t run the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

“The first day, I got here and I had a nervous breakdown and I wasn’t going to run because I was just so nervous,” she said. Hoards of cameras and the weight of expectations were almost too much for the teenager. But McLaughlin said her coaches gave her the last-minute confidence boost she needed.